Mercenary Pictish Crossbowmen

There's no arguing with a quarrel.

Thought to have been invented simultaneously in both Greece and China during the 5th century BC, various forms of crossbow spread rapidly across Europe, even appearing on Pictish standing stones in the far north of Britain. An early attempt to automate the simple bow, the crossbow works by mounting a bow horizontally on a barrel or stock that, once fitted with a ‘bolt’, can be drawn with a ratchet mechanism to much greater tension than a man alone can generate before being braced against the shoulder for firing. This means that, despite the superior accuracy and rates of fire afforded by the traditional bow, the crossbow can penetrate heavy armour more effectively. Also, unlike the bow, which takes many years of training and practice to master, an unskilled man can be taught to use a crossbow well within a week. Comparably poor accuracy was the weapon’s only real downside, but since it could be held in tension for a much longer period of time, crossbowmen often had time to pick and choose their shots carefully.

Unit Name

Mercenary Pictish Crossbowmen

Main Unit Key

cha_merc_cel_pictish_crossbowmen

Land Unit Key

cha_merc_cel_pictish_crossbowmen

Naval Unit Key

cha_longship_transport

Soldiers

160

Category

Missile Infantry

Class

Missile Infantry

Custom Battle Cost

180

Recruitment Cost

180

Upkeep Cost

110

Missile Damage

65

├ Missile Weapon

att_crossbow

├ Projectile

att_arrow_crossbow_normal

├ Missile Damage

15

├ Missile Ap Damage

50

└ Base Reload Time

43

Accuracy

25

Range

125

Reload

25

Rate of Fire

2

Ammunition

12

Melee Attack

5

Melee Damage

9

├ Melee Weapon

cha_dagger

├ Melee Base Damage

7

├ Armour-piercing Damage

2

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Attack Against Cavalry

0

├ Attack Against Elephants

0

└ Attack Against Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

1

Melee Defence

1

├ Base Defence

1

├ Shield

cha_none

└ Shield Defence

0

Armour

6

├ Armour

cha_cloth

├ Armour Defence

6

└ Shield Armour

0

Health

100

├ Man Entity

cha_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health

100

└ Bonus Hit Points

0

Morale

26

Abilities

No Ability

Attributes

Resistant to FatigueFatigue has less of an effect on this unit.

Hide (forest)This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.